With Friday’s deadline for teams to agree on 2023 contracts with arbitration-eligible players, multiple sources are reporting that the White Sox have reached agreements with all five of their cases: Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech, Reynaldo López, and José Ruiz.
It’s refreshing news that the Sox avoided arbitration hearings, especially given the embarrassment of haggling with Giolito over $50,000 just one year ago. The team needs all the positive vibes they can muster heading into Spring Training given the anguish of the 2022 season and squandered hopes so many of us hold.
One thing that is interesting, and this is a pattern that has surfaced for many years now in the Rick Hahn regime; coming to terms and avoiding arbitration basically translates into the players giving in.